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Thread: A Parthian Campaign Suggestion

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  1. #24

    Default Re: A Parthian Campaign Suggestion

    It is indeed nice to see that Parthia gets such a well treatment.

    I hope you don't mind one or two notes from a numismatic point of view. The first is about the "King of Kings"-title.
    It is a fascinating fact, that Parthians Great Kings never called themselves "šahan šah", but always "Basileus Megas", the Greek equivalent taken from the Seleukids. We can see that on the legends of the Parthian mintage. The palahvi title "šah eran" was added later (Mithridates IV.), but the Great King title always remained Greek, even though heavily blundered towards the end of the Arsakid dynasty.

    Ardašir was the first Iranian ruler calling himself "šahan šah eran" in his Typ II coins and subsequent coins, stating a clear message of renewed ("pure") Iranian power.
    Therefore I would not use "šahan šah" but "Basileus Megas" for the Arsakids, especially in EB timeframe.

    The second point is related to that. The Parthian rulers were "Philhellen", officially and in reality, at least for some time. Still Orodes II. enjoyed Greek theater, if one believes Plutarchos. Parthian coins only use Greek names, until late in the 1st cent.AD. The Greek names were always more prominent anyway.
    Therefore it's worth considering to use the Greek names for their rulers. (There is a similar phenomen in German history in the 18th cent., when the German nobles preferred speaking French rather than German)

    Literature on the numismatics:

    Alram, M./Gyselen, R.: Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum, vol. 1, Ardashir I. - Shapur I., Paris/Berlin/Vienna 2003 (excellent series, btw!)
    Alram, M.: Nomina Propria Iranica in Nummis, Vienna 1986
    Alram, M.: Stand und Aufgaben der arsakidischen Numismatik, in: Wiesehöfer, J. (Ed.): Das Partherreich und seine Zeugnisse, Stuttgart 1998, pp.365-387
    Shore, F.: Parthian Coins and History, Quarryville 1993

    regards and keep up the great work!
    Last edited by FliegerAD; 02-11-2007 at 07:05.

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